Made for Me: The Diva Dress

Another dance party, another excuse to make myself something the week of the event…

Made for another edition of the ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody‘ dance parties organized and DJ-ed by the fabulous House of Gold Diamonds, I wanted to evoke a classic look with dramatic sleeves. The end result is heavily influenced by late 60s early 70s mini dresses, and is actually 2 separate pieces that can be otherwise worn with different outfits.

The underdress is made from some lovely stretch suiting similar to fabric I’ve used before. I love the fact that it has nice structure and weight but also a good amount of give – perfect for figure hugging garments that you can move in! The top is a modified version of a 1970s slip pattern that I’ve used previously. The lower section is roughly Gertie’s Wiggle Dress with some tweaking. Straps are a matte finish lingerie strapping.

For the chiffon overlay I used this 1970 blouse pattern as a starting point – extending the hem, exaggerating the sleeve blousing, negating the bust dart, and lowering the neckline to a shallow scoop shape.

To give the waist definition, I added ties at each side that form a bow at the back. I wanted initially to have the overlay drape more, but it proved unflattering on my curves.

To stiffen the cuffs, I used a black iron-on interfacing. At the cuffs and back neck I used iridescent shell look shank style buttons.

I love that it was long sleeved but still pretty cool. The sheer sleeves let my arms breathe, I was pretty comfy all night and they were super fun to dance with.

My only regret of the evening was bringing a purse that I couldn’t wear across my body while dancing. I’m usually so practical about these things…

~Heather